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Short lifespan Frigidaire FDB1050RE Built in Dishwasher I purchased my Frigidaire FDB1050RE dishwasher a little less than two years ago. It cleaned dishes pretty well up ...

Frigidaire FDB1050RE Built-in Dishwasher Product MPNMPN:FDB1050RE Key FeaturesDishwasher Type:Built-inControl Type:Electronic • Rotary DialNumber of...

Before I start this review, I should note that I believe Frigidaire is owned by (Electrolux?) now. Also, this review covers several different model numbers. These are all the exact same dishwasher, with different exterior colors:

FDB1050RE (the general model number)

FDB1050RES (white)

FDB1050REB (black)

FDB1050REQ (bisque, or off-white, the one we own)

FDB1050REC (stainless, and a little more expensive)

FDB1050REM (silver?)

We bought an almost-new house many months ago that (quite oddly) had disco-era appliances. I don’t know how that happened, unless the previous owners ‘recycled’ some really ancient appliances. So we’ve been replacing all the appliances a little at a time. The biggest problem with the new place was … a large kitchen with no dishwasher. (As in, it never had one, ???) I called around to various places that sell dishwashers, and they all told me that I’d have to find an independent contractor to do the installation. That kind of made sense, as it wasn’t an easy job. We had some plumbing that needed to be re-routed and a cabinet that needed to be removed. That was all before the dishwasher could start to be installed! Installing a dishwasher (as opposed to simply REPLACING one) requires considerable carpentry, plumbing and electrical skills. We found a local handyman to do the work for us. He only made a couple of minor mistakes that I was able to easily correct myself. If my carpentry skills were better (better than nonexistent, ha ha), I probably wouldn’t have needed the handyman. But I figured if I was going to hire someone anyway, I might as well let him tackle the whole job.

Anyway, once I was reasonably certain that the job COULD be done, all that was left was to order the dishwasher itself. I’ve owned and/or used several dishwashers in my lifetime (mostly GE brand?, from memory), but never had to buy one myself. Everywhere I’ve moved, the dishwasher was waiting for me. Some were good and some not-so-good, but none were “bad” enough to motivate me to replace them. So I never paid much attention to what brand the dishwasher was, or specific features, etc. It washes dishes. Yawn. But I have purchased several major appliances in my lifetime, so I have experience with certain brands of appliances. I relied on that experience to help me find the first dishwasher that I actually purchased myself.

The oldest Frigidaire appliance in our family is a refrigerator that is over 30 years old now, and still runs like brand new. Without exception, every major appliance I’ve purchased has been either Frigidaire or Whirlpool brands. I’ve not had a single problem with either of those brands, ever. In particular, I absolutely loved the last 3 major appliances I purchased. My most recent Frigidaire refrigerator was about six years old and still looked and ran like new (we left it behind as we didn’t want to move it). Our Whirlpool washer/dryer set that we are using today was purchased many years ago. (1992 or 1993?, I think). That whirlpool laundry set has survived TWO moves. During our last move, the Whirlpool washer was accidentally bounced down a short stairway. We average four loads of laundry a week, with ZERO problems in over a decade. That’s amazing. We really didn’t want to bring the washer/dryer with us this time, but the Kenmore washer/dryer set in the new house looked like one more load of laundry would probably cause it to self-destruct in a rather spectacular fashion. So we brought our old but trusty whirlpool set with us, figuring the odds were better that we wouldn’t have to buy a new washer/dryer set SOON.

So I already was leaning toward either Whirlpool or Frigidaire for a dishwasher, even though I’d never owned either brand in a dishwasher. After visiting a few stores and talking with a few salesmen, I had a pretty good idea of what features I wanted. While cost was somewhat of a consideration, I would have gladly spent most of a thousand bucks just to get a nice, reliable dishwasher. Luckily, I didn’t have to spend nearly that much. I was pleasantly surprised at how little money it takes to get a really nice dishwasher. I wanted multi-level cleaning, delayed start, large capacity (sometimes called something like “tall tub”), and a built-in food disposer. I also wanted some kind of QUIET design, but I wasn’t placing too much emphasis on that feature while I was shopping. After all, how do you know how quiet something is before you buy it? It’s not like you can demo a dishwasher in the store. So any claims of “quiet” need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Of the local stores, Lowes seemed to have the best selection of dishwashers in brands that I would consider buying. In fact, when I was looking on their web site, I was almost overwhelmed by the large selection of Frigidaire and Whirlpool brand dishwashers. I was able to see some of those models in the local retail store. But shopping online, I kept returning to one particular Frigidaire model. It happened to be one of the least expensive models that Lowes carried (online, anyway). It seemed to have all the features I wanted, and then some. I looked at several models that were more expensive, but I couldn’t justify spending the extra money, when I found a really cheap model that looked like it would work just fine for us. Some of the more expensive units had all-electronic controls (some HIDDEN), or claimed to have better sound-proofing, or offered other fancy features like special wash cycles, a (sanitizing function?), etc. But I kept wondering how many fancy extra features did I need to get my dishes clean? The one feature I would have insisted on (besides multi-level wash, which really helps to get upper level dishes cleaner) was delayed start. All my previous dishwashers were really loud, so I wanted something that we could start on a timer so that it ran while we were out of the house. My thinking was, the timer would be more convenient, as then you’d be less likely to FORGET to start the dishwasher as you are leaving the house.

But it seems like most dishwashers now do have a delayed start and multi-level wash, so my list of necessary features was really quite basic, for any current model dishwasher.

On features:

Well, I’ve already covered much of this, but this Frigidaire unit is fairly ‘loaded’, as far as features go. Extra Large capacity, 5 wash cycles (including pots/pans), heated drying, built-in self-cleaning food disposer, heated wash (heats water above the normal ~120 degrees, if selected), variable delayed start function, 5-level wash system, sound reduction package, mix of mechanical and electronic controls . . . (what, no alloy wheels?!?) Basically, if it isn’t in this dishwasher, you probably don’t need it.

On use:

It couldn’t get much easier to use. It includes a detailed instruction book, but you likely won’t need it. (that’s a nice feature in itself . . . easy to use!) The wash cycle is set by a large rotary dial, which is self-explanatory. Other functions like delay start, heated dry, etc., have electronic push-button controls to turn them on and off. Most of the time I use it, I just load the last few dishes, add detergent to both containers and hit “start”. My wife likes to use the delay wash and heated dry. She claims heated dry works better. But the few times I’ve emptied the dishwasher, the “clean” light was on for several hours first, so I can’t confirm that. (I suspect the dishes would have dried nicely anyway, but the wife likes the heated dry function, so it probably does make a difference.)

One nice surprise is that this dishwasher is really QUIET. Yes, it claims to be quiet, but surprisingly, it actually IS. Our house is kind of an open concept so the kitchen is more or less in the living room. We can watch TV about 15 feet from the dishwasher, and the dishwasher running doesn’t bother us at all. Also, it is easy to fall asleep while the dishwasher is running in the next room. OK, so all my previous dishwashers were much older units, but I REALLY was expecting this dishwasher to be MUCH louder than it is. The only time we really notice it is sometimes it makes a loud “squeak” sound momentarily. I’m not sure what this is, but it must be a normal sound. In any case, it doesn’t bother us at all. I think it is between wash and rinse, so maybe it is a draining sound? Maybe the food disposer?

The one thing you have to be careful of with this dishwasher is that you do not overload the detergent dispenser. There are three dispensers. Two are for dish detergent (one is prewash), and the third is for a rinse aid. The prewash dispenser is just a cup in the door that empties itself when the door closes. The OTHER detergent dispenser has a door on it that is opened automatically during the wash cycle. We discovered that if that one (the one with the door) is too full, then sometimes the door won’t open automatically. (oooops!!!) But that is a very minor problem. Just be careful not to overfill the dispenser, and it works great.

On Performance:

We live in an area with very hard water. For hard water, Frigidaire recommends that both detergent dispensers should be filled. We started out using Cascade Complete powdered detergent for both pre-wash and regular wash detergent dispensers. We periodically fill the rinse-aid dispenser also. For our own convenience, we are using Cascade 2-in-1 actionpacs for the main detergent dispenser now. We still use Cascade powder for the pre-wash dispenser. But the actionpac thingie is like a little plastic-y pouch of dish detergent. Tossing in the little pouch of detergent makes it easier for us to fill the main detergent dispenser without accidentally OVERfilling it. I suspect that Cascade dishwasher “gel” formula would work quite well also, though we haven’t tried that. It would probably be harder to overfill the dispenser with gel, as any extra would probably just “squish” out when the door is closed. But we’ve run many loads using the combination of actionpac and powdered detergent with no problems at all, so we’re sticking with what works well.

And it DOES work well. After many years of using older dishwashers, my wife is used to pre-rinsing dishes before she loads them in the dishwasher. I keep telling her she doesn’t have to do that, but old habits are hard to break, I guess. When I put dishes in, I do NOT pre-rinse them. It’s not necessary. Our dishes ALWAYS come out sparkling clean!!! Pots, glasses, silverware . . . all of it is spotless, and the glasses are shiny! I doubt if I could do a better job of cleaning the dishes by hand. This dishwasher does an AWESOME job of well, cleaning dishes.

I think the best thing I can say about this dishwasher is that we really don’t have to think about it at all. With some other dishwashers we’ve used, we would inspect the dishes before putting them away, to make sure they are really clean. It’s not like we ever had any serious problems with another dishwasher, but sometimes a dish or two would come out looking like the machine ‘missed a spot’ here and there. We still inspect the clean dishes with this dishwasher, but it’s more of a quick glance or two while we are putting them away. After many loads of dishes, we have learned to EXPECT that this machine will get the job done right the first time, every time. We’ve had this machine for several months now averaging 4-5 loads of dishes a week.

I know all my previous dishwashers were much older units, but this Frigidaire model has greatly exceeded my expectations. It cleans better than any dishwasher I’ve used before, and does it very quietly. When I consider all the nice features, and the price I paid for it, I’d have to say that it’s a GREAT DEAL!

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